The Temple

Here it is, another Lost-eve, and I’ve a few thoughts to share about the Temple. The Temple, of course, is where we saw Richard Alpert carry the unconscious young Ben Linus at the end of last week's episode. We don’t know a whole lot about the Temple, so I thought I’d compile what we know here, and then ask my questions.

We first heard of the Temple in Meet Kevin Johnson, when Ben gave Alex a map to the Temple, saying it might be the last safe place on the island. Oddly enough, the map has a Dharma logo on it. When Karl suggested that the survivors go with them to the Temple, Ben refused, saying, “It’s not for them.” We didn’t see the Temple until This Place is Death. Remember when Montand was dragged by the smoke monster/security system into the hole, losing his arm in the process? And remember that Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan followed Montand into the hole, after he called to them? Danielle would have gone into the well too, had Jin not been there to stop her. This occurred at the Temple – or its outer walls, at least. We saw the walls, covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs (there’s another line of thought –all the Egyptian symbols this season). Apparently there was an official podcast after This Place is Death, in which the producers reported that the walls we saw are just an outer perimeter. The Temple is inside these walls.

We know nothing else about the Temple. But after seeing what happened to Robert, Lacombe, and Brennan, and then after hearing what Richard told Kate and Sawyer about what would happen to Ben, it just elicited a slew of thoughts. In case you need reminding, Richard said:

If I take him, he’s not ever going to be the same again. He’ll forget this ever happened and his innocence will be gone. He will always be one of us. Do you still want me to take him?

Is it the Temple that turns people into “Others”? How does it alter them? Were the Frenchmen turned into “Others”? What about being an “Other” made them so deadly to Danielle? Who built the Temple – the “Others”? The Dharma Initiative? Who or what decides who goes to the Temple and who doesn’t? Why was it not for the survivors? Has Juliet been to the Temple? Has she been irrevocably changed?

Who are the “Others”, anyway?

I use quotation marks around the word “Others” because it appears that there are two kinds of Others. Ben and Richard are privy to the Temple, but Karl and Alex were not. And I don't know what the differences are.

I am thoroughly intrigued.

A Primer on the French

I’d heard that we’d learn about Danielle Rousseau this season, but I couldn’t figure out how. Turns out, skipping through time is the perfect device, now that Keamy has killed her. But I was a little concerned, because I couldn’t remember much about what we’ve learned about Rousseau’s team. So, I did a little investigating, and found the following:

Danielle arrived on the Island in 1988 with a scientific team of six members. She was seven months pregnant by Robert, another scientist who was on the same team. In Solitary, Danielle told Sayid that her team was 3 days out of Tahiti when their instruments malfunctioned. Their ship crashed into rocks and the team made a temporary camp on the island.

In Numbers, Danielle told Hurley a different story. Her team picked up a transmission of a voice repeating the numbers and the team changed course to investigate. It took them weeks to find the radio transmission tower near the Black Rock.

The team was on the island for two months when five became “infected”. They were apparently near the Black Rock, in “The Dark Territory”, where, apparently, Montand lost his arm. Rousseau claimed that the sickness took the members of her team one by one, but she did admit to killing Robert. Maybe she killed them all. She claimed she did this because of her fears of spreading the infection should they be rescued. She told Sayid that she believed the Others infected her team. She also claimed she never met the Others, just heard their whispers.

After the sickness came on the team, Rousseau changed the transmission. In French, it says, among other things, that they are all dead, it (or he) is outside, that Brennan took the keys, and if anyone can help, she’ll try to make it to the Black Rock.

Around the same time, she gave birth to her daughter, named Alexandra. She told the survivors that she delivered the child herself. Mother and child were together for a week, when Rousseau saw a column of black smoke. That night, her baby was taken from her.

We’ve now met all the members of the team mentioned: Danielle, Robert, Montand, and Brennan. I’m hoping that we spend some time in 1988 to learn more. And I have to wonder, will their rescue of Jin change time? We’ll find out. Soon I hope.